The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

My husband's grandfather, Dr. Rufus Butler, was a "horse and buggy doctor" in Waitsburg for 30 years. According to an article in the Waitsburg Times in 1950 memorial­izing

him, he was one of the last settlers to recall log cabins, Indians, hard­ships, and pioneer love of the Northwest. In the short time that I had the pleasure of his acquaintance, I realized he played an important role in the history of many people of Waitsburg, and he had many interesting stories to tell. His education and background differed from today's physician as we know it. He started his career in medicine by working in a pharmacy business in Pomeroy with his brother-in-law. After two years he moved to Milton, Ore., where he met and married his wife, Ida Gerking.

He read medicine and anatomy with Dr. J. E. Bingham in Walla Walla and then went to Rush Medical College at the University of Chicago and graduated. This was about the time Louis Pasteur proposed a germ theory for prevention of disease. His recommendations, treatments and medi­cal advice also differed greatly from "modern day" medicine. I always enjoyed hearing these stories.

For example, in those days, as you probably know, babies were born at home. Dr. Butler traveled to deliver babies by horse and buggy for many years until he was one of the first in Waitsburg to buy a car. At that time cars cost around $300.

He told me the story about a patient who had "taken to her bed" and was having a fit of hysterics. So how do you think he "cured" this woman? He went to the sink to get a dipper of water and pre­tended to stumble, splash­ing the water in her face. He then said to her, "Now you come to our house for supper on Sunday." That was one of his treatments for hysterics in his day.

I also remember that Dr. Butler's hands had permanent burn scars on them. This was because in his day, x-rays were quite primitive. His hands were scarred from repeated use of x-rays without protec­tion like lead barriers. And a personal story I remember was that when I was "burping" my baby (Bobby), Dr. Butler asked me, "What in the world are you doing to that baby?"

I replied, "I am reliev­ing gas from his stom­ach!" His advice was to put him on his stomach in the crib. Today, this is a big "no no."

Dr. Butler lived through two wars, World War I and II. During that time, there were many advances made and many more dis­coveries have been made since his death in 1950. Yet the stories remain.